Fifth Annual Beverly Lyon Clark Children’s Literature Symposium

Trees: In Relation

Saturday, 11 April 2026 at Wheaton College (Norton, MA)

Children’s literature offers a truly unique opportunity to engage in scholarship. Through our imaginative and academic engagement with children’s literature we may develop a greater understanding of the relationship literature plays with the children who read it and the relationship that children’s literature has with academia and culture as a whole. Through our examination of the stories we tell children and the characters and subject matter depicted therein we may gain valuable insights into the individuals and groups that get to be considered children as well as the lessons and knowledge communicated to them as seeds of potential growth.

Wheaton College Massachusetts, in honor of late Professor Beverly Clark (1948-2021), is hosting its fifth annual Beverly Lyon Clark Children’s Literature Symposium. This symposium continues the legacy of Prof. Clark by providing the opportunity for undergraduate students, early-career researchers, and creatives to share their experiences and relationships with children’s literature. The theme for this year's symposium is trees—representative of growth, roots, family, and life. 

Potential presentation topics include but are not limited to:

1. Critical and symbolic readings of trees, forest, foliage, green spaces, etc. in narrative and illustrated texts

2. Eco-critical approaches to children’s literature

3. Examinations of multigenerational familial representation (i.e., family trees) and “growing up”

4. Hangings and political/racialized violence within the context of childhood and adolescent studies

5. Deleuzian rhizomes, arboreality, and critical dendrology

6. Tree-hugging and juvenile environmentalism

Email presentation proposals to bevlclarksymposium@gmail.com with an abstract or description of your presentation (200-250 words) as well as a brief bio. Proposals will be accepted until Sunday 15 March 2026. Aim for clarity and originality, and most importantly, have fun!